


The Princess

by velvetyred



Series: Bound [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Female Kíli, Gen, In which Kili is a girl, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, fem!Kili, to clarify -- kili is a trans!girl, will be addressed if i ever continue this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 12:36:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2110155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetyred/pseuds/velvetyred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kíli is a starry-eyed dwarrowdam of the line of Durin. As a child, she often wondered about her One. She still does.</p><p>-Set in a world where the True Name of a dwarf's One is marked on their skin as opposed to their surface name.-</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Princess

Kíli had been curious about Ones ever since she was a dwarfling.

For many nights she would curl up on her mother's lap or by her side and ask - or beg - her to tell Kíli about her father and how they'd met. She never knew her father, for he had been lost to the Battle of Azanulbizar when she was in her mother's stomach, but whenever his tales were told she could picture him easily enough. A strong, handsome dwarf with hair as dark as her own and eyes as blue as Fíli's. She could see that dwarf embrace her brother and kiss both of her mother's cheeks.

And when mother told her of their chance meeting, of him stumbling over the axes in the forge her uncle worked at and into her, she would giggle as the dwarf in her head stuttered his apologies. Kíli would ask for other stories too, and her amad would talk about his acts of love - making her beads and braiding them into her hair, singing for her, dancing. At these she blushed and grinned and sighed dreamily. At the end of one of the longer tales, she had asked if her own One would be like him. Her mother had smiled at her, a happy yet melancholy thing.

"Perhaps, my jewel." She had said, stroking her dark, wispy hair. "You will have to see for yourself, when you meet them."

Kíli had nodded back with a "Yes, amad" and promptly fallen asleep against her soft chest. She hadn't forgotten when she woke the next morning, and the little dwarrowdam had done her best to heed those words and lasted... Well, about as long as one would expect from a child. Soon enough she'd taken to staring at the ceiling of her room, touching her nameless wrist and wondering her little heart away for hours.

Were they smart or kind? Did they have blond hair or was it brown or red? What colour were their eyes? Were they a warrior or a chef, maybe a bard? Did they like to read or did they prefer to dance and play? These were the questions that had plagued Kíli's mind every night in her solitude.

But as Kíli grew and her lessons began, she'd had less time to think about her One. Priorities changed, and the questions were filed away while Mother told her less stories and more about etiquette, the history of Erebor and the line of Durin. She didn't much care for those lessons, but back then running away had never been an option, with the state of her health. There had been no choice for her but to immerse herself in them, so she did. She worked until her hand cramped or it felt as though Mahal was pounding the inside her head with his hammer.

That she had ended up good at studying was completely coincidental; it simply helped her take her mind off her daintiness. She tried not to think of being unable to run around with Fíli, or having to be satisfied with looking out her window and playing card games in bed. She evaded conversations involving the latest epidemic that may or may not reach their settlement and put all her attention on whatever she was working on. Despite the distraction, there had still been nights where she refused anyone's company, nights where she she had wept into her pillows and cursed her weakness.

 _"It will be worth it in the end."_ A voice - Fíli's, mother's, uncle's, even her own - would tell her.

The words soon became her mantra, and with that in mind she complied with most of the limitations placed on her. Everything from avoiding the 'germ infested' marketplace to not sitting on the dusty floor was agreed to, Kíli biting down on her arguments all the while. She held on to her mother's soothing touches, her uncle's promise to train her alongside her brother, and Fíli's supportive words, and waited.

The day she had been declared a healthy enough dam, the princess knew that it was worth it.  
  
  


Now, Kíli can move almost as swiftly with her sword as her brother does with his twin blades. She grins as the metal clashes, even when she is left unarmed in the end. She trains with her bow and glows when her uncle tells her that her skill will be unmatched within the decade. With her weapons, she dances, just as she does when people are gathered in celebration.

She ventures into the marketplace all the time, making friendly conversation with a wide range of dwarrows until a certain prince rushes past, nearly knocking her into whoever she is talking to. She shouts and he eggs her on, insults flying before the youngest Durin ends up sprinting after him.

She is able to chase Fíli through the streets and weave through crowds, narrowly dodge carts and tear swiftly through stalls. In the trail of dust that she leaves are the complaints of merchants and the encouraging cheers of nearby children. Her laugh carries in the wind and her hair flies loose, as free as her spirit. The reckless Durin, some call her. The fearless princess. 

"Be careful." Her mother says, when she sees Kíli putting on her more durable boots by the door. "Return to me whole."

"Always." Kíli says with a smile, kissing her cheek before slipping out into the world.

The dwarrowdam isn't as frail as before, though when something does go around she is aware that she's likely to catch it. When she does, she uses those days to catch up on any lessons she skipped. It doesn't bother her much... So long as she can go back to breathing fresh air in less than a week, which turns out to be the case nowadays. Almost all of her waking are consumed by her personal adventures under the sun.

Though on nights when the sky is dark and clear enough to see the stars, she sneaks out to steal more time for herself. She wanders until she finds a place that's suitable for her back to rest on, and folds her arms behind her head.

The soft glow of the moon caresses her cheeks as she gazes up at the twinkling lights, and it is there that she digs through the recesses of her mind and pulls out long forgotten fantasies of a mystery dwarf that is her One. She closes her eyes, imagining their gentle hands going through her hair and braiding beads into it as she lets out a relaxed sigh. She smiles as those hands pull her to her feet for a dance, and giggles when they cup her face. She pretends that the air is their loving embrace, and everything is perfect.

When she is done, she returns home to her bed and stays awake a while longer. The questions from her childhood begin to race through her thoughts when she does, and Kíli lets them quiet on their own as the darkness takes her.

"Who are you?" The princess whispers at times, when the questions nag and her eyelids reject sleep. She stares at her blank wrist as though her One's name will materialize right then and there. It doesn't, of course.

And if she secretly spends every day checking, no one has to know.

**Author's Note:**

> And here's Kíli's part! I've been really looking forward to writing her, and I think this turned out all right. I may tweak it in the future though. :^) It looks like my brain is doing okay writing so far, I may even write the first few chapters of their fic and have it started by the end of the month! We'll see how it goes. For now, enjoy!


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